Monday, July 04, 2016

Tammany Malloy

Speaking of Tammany Hall, Stamford Democratic registrar of
voters Ron Malloy, the elder brother of Governor Dannel Malloy, has ruled that David
Michel will not be able to run in the August 9 primary for a House of Representatives
seat held by incumbent Democrat Terry
Adams, according to a story in the Stamford Advocate.

Mr. Michel is contesting Ron Malloy’s decision in Court. “Many
of the residents I have met in the South End and downtown,” Mr. Michel told
the paper, “have told me I am the only candidate who has ever knocked on their
door or listened and responded to their grievances,” Mr. Michel said.

The decision of the Governor’s brother did not sit well with
Daniel Honan, Mr. Michel’s campaign manager. “Myself and hundreds of other Stamford voters
would simply like to exercise our fundamental right to vote for the candidate of
our choice,” Mr. Honan wrote in a in a press release. “That’s why this whole
business about these antiquated and obscure Tammany Hall-era eligibility
requirements smells so bad.”

The Advocate attempted to reach the Mayor of Stamford to
allow him to comment on Mr. Michel’s court petition, but its attempt was
unavailing: “The mayor’s spokesman Elizabeth
Carlson said the town clerk’s office closed early for the holiday
weekend and neither the mayor nor the legal department had received copies of
Michel’s filing.”

Democrats have good reason to thank the powers that be for
long holiday weekends. Governor Malloy’s disapproval rating in the state has
plummeted to a new low of 32 percent, his lowest score ever according to a recent Quinnipiac Poll.
Mr. Malloy’s approval rating among Democrats, according to the poll, is “a
lackluster 58 - 33 percent.”

Among Democrats disapproving of Mr. Malloy are some who believe
that his brother’s ruling may be the first shot in the battle for control of
the General Assembly.